LIES

Elena intentionally dismissed all the people who approached her to create a chance for Charlotte to approach her. She knew her sister might be a jerk, but she was smart. She wouldn’t let jealousy get in the way of connection or money. She had planned things out—she had someone mix a little bit of vodka into all tequila drinks. She knew that Charlotte only drank tequila because she was allergic to other liquor ingredients like potatoes.

She made sure the quantity wouldn’t be enough to cause anaphylaxis. Because of the tight security, she had planned the operation weeks earlier when they were still transporting the drinks.

And just as she predicted, her sister walked up to her with the intention of kissing up to her to make her a friend, but she didn’t expect Charlotte to be so disgusting as to use her as an excuse to gain favor from people.

“This trick must have worked for her a lot,” Elena thought before replying to Charlotte.

“Tell me more.”

“I remember vividly how it happened. I had gone out with some friends, and on my way back, I met up with Adrian, who was about to happily rush into the house to see his fiancée. I called on him and suggested we walk together. But to our dismay, we overheard Elena’s conversation with Lucas.

She was confessing her love to him, and Lucas was reprimanding her. She pushed him onto the bed and tried forcing herself on him, but Lucas wasn’t giving in. It was a heartbreaking scene for both Adrian and me. Just as I was about to leave and Adrian was about to burst into the room in anger, we heard a gunshot. It was Elena—she shot and killed Lucas. I was so shocked that if Adrian hadn’t held my mouth, I would have screamed, and probably, we both would be dead by now…” she narrated while sniffing, but it seemed to her that Celine wasn’t falling for it.

“Such a vivid description. No wonder everyone believed her. If I wasn’t the victim, I would have believed her too. I was too confused to explain the situation then, so of course, an explanation like this would win the case. How did I end up with such a cold-hearted and ruthless sister?”

“But why didn’t she dispose of the body immediately? I heard that she fell asleep with the body,” Elena asked.

“She was probably thinking it was still late at night, so she would dispose of it before anyone found out,” Charlotte explained.

“Hmmm… how heartless. Do you think that by any chance your sister was drunk?”

“No, she never drinks. So she wasn’t drunk… ugh.” Charlotte immediately held her stomach in pain.

“Hm? Miss Charlotte, are you okay?” Elena asked.

“I… I am f… fine.” Charlotte’s face began to turn red as she struggled to breathe. She immediately ran into the bathroom, and without making a scene, Elena followed her.

“Miss Charlotte, you don’t look fine. Is it a result of the memory? I’m sorry if I’m the cause of all this…”

“N… no, it’s all fine, just gimme a minute. I’ll be fine,” Charlotte said.

“O… okay, if you say so. Let me help you to the sink so you can wash your face.”

……

Meanwhile, in the event center, Damien looked around and couldn’t find Charlotte nor Elena. He smirked and then went ahead and approached Adrian.

“You look good—better than you were ten years ago,” Damien said, calling for Adrian’s attention.

“Oh, hi, Mr. Vance. Thanks for the compliment. What can I say? It was a mourning time for all of us, and like you believe that the dead should be left to rest, I believe that the evil should have no lingering memory in my life,” Adrian said.

“Oh… that’s a nice perspective. Tell me, what do you think of my wife? Is she pretty?” Damien asked an unexpected question.

“S… Sir Damien, is that supposed to be a question? Your wife is literally the star of tonight’s event.”

“Curious as to how I met her?” Damien asked.

“I’d be pleased to hear that, sir.” Adrian bowed, making Damien look at him and smirk.

“I’ll tell you that when I’m being celebrated, but it’s your moment. So tell me about how you’re doing and if I could provide you with any assistance.”

………..

“How do you feel?” Elena asked.

“I feel much better. Thank you very much, Miss Celine,” Charlotte appreciated.

“It’s no problem. I’ll do anything for family.”

Charlotte looked at her.

“Yes, you said earlier that we would have been family. I don’t think anything stops us now from being family,” Elena said with a gentle smile.

“Miss… I’m grateful. I’ll never forget this title. Can I call you big sis?” Charlotte’s excitement took a turn Elena didn’t expect.

“Big sis? That’s not right, considering what your sister already did. You should call me Aunty,” Elena said.

Charlotte, at first, felt it would be humiliating, but since it was a family bond and Elena looked older than her, people would just judge it as a playful title.

“Sure, Aunty.”

“So what do you think is the problem? Were you sick?” Elena asked.

“No, I don’t think so. But I’m allergic to other alcohols, not tequila. I don’t understand—I took tequila but had an allergic reaction.”

“To think she’d be so stupid to give away her health condition like that… I guess I thought too highly of her,” Elena thought.

“Apart from me, who else knows this?” Elena asked.

“Only Adrian. I only told you this secret because I trust you.”

“Only Adrian, you say…” Elena thought for a moment and then spoke.

“Say, don’t you think your husband is trying to get you out of the picture so he can own your company? Since your company still runs with your family name, he’s probably not happy,” Elena said.

“Aunty… how could you imagine something so absurd? Adrian isn’t like that. He works for the company with his life. Even when I told him to open another one, he insisted on working only on this one.”

“Isn’t that even more of a reason it should be suspicious? Look, I’m not accusing him of anything, but I think your husband must have tampered with your drink. Here…” Elena said and brought out her phone.

“Watch this video and tell me what you think. I have a friend who’s a security personnel here. He found something suspicious using the CCTV camera. He sent it to me and asked me to be careful,” Elena said as she showed a video of Adrian giving a vodka drink to one of the stewards. Later, the steward mixed it with a tequila drink, which was served to Charlotte.

Elena already knew that Charlotte would be too mad to pay attention to details in a video showing clear evidence like that. She could control envy or jealousy, but she couldn’t control her anger.

“That… that bastard!!!” Charlotte yelled and stormed out of the bathroom, obviously losing her sense of reasoning and going to confront Adrian. Elena had successfully completed her first mission—planting the seed that would grow to break down their trust in each other.

“Charlotte, Charlotte!” Elena called, pretending to try to stop her.

“That’s right, go on ahead and give me a show worth watching!”